Arlington doctor collects 50 pounds of medicine for Puerto Rico

Monday

Nov 6, 2017 at 11:11 AMNov 6, 2017 at 11:39 AM

Abbi Matheson

When Cambridge Health Alliance Medical Staff President Doctor Kirsten Meisinger learned of the shortage of medication at Puerto Rican hospitals, she rallied other doctors at CHA to collect 50 pounds of medicine to donate.

Meisinger noted that as a doctor, it's hard to imagine wanting to help people but not being able to because of a lack of resources. This, she said, hit home for her and inspired her to donate the medicine.

She worked with Steve Cano in CHA's pharmacy department and members of the transportation department to gather medication needed at the Hospital Auxilio Mutuo Intensive Care and Centro Isabelino de Medicina Avanzada (CIMA). The medication collected includes antibiotics and antihypertensives, a type of medication used to help patients with chronic lung disease and high blood pressure.

The medicine was flown to Puerto Rico on Friday, Oct. 27. The donation amounts to 100 vials of medication. Each vial contains roughly 10 doses, totaling 1,000 doses of medication donated by CHA.

Working to gather these donations and sending them to hospitals in need is "the kind of medicine I wanted to practice," Meisinger said.

She added that it doesn't feel like there's been a lot of movement in helping Puerto Rico in part because people assumed there would be help on the national level, but there hasn't been.

Meisinger explained that hospitals get regular shipments of medication from manufacturers. After the hurricane, these shipments were interrupted and, with more people needing antibiotics, shortages occurred across the territory.

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